Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-01-15
THE CHIEF OF BIRD PESTS.

ageous, Hardy and Prolific Creatures.
For downright pluck and persever-
ance and cleverness give me the English
sparrow; he's hard one to beat"
These were the words of one of those
peripatetic guardians of the lava Cen
tral park policeman. The man had been
a member of the force for several years
and in assiduous pursuit Of his calling
had walked many miles through the
byways and highways of the park, dis
coursing in his own mind upon the
merits and dement's of these little for
eigners.
Now where do you suppose that chap
is going to spend the winter" he said to
a young man who had found him stand
ing, legs apart and arms akimbo, leisure
ly observing the toilet of brown backed,
black breasted sparrow of the gentle sex
which perched on swinging limb Of q
middle aged elm combing its feathers
with its bill.
Somewhere in the south, reckon"
said the person addressed.
"Nawp," said the philosopher, don't
migrate"
Don't migrate, eh! Well, in box in
some tree in the park"
"Nawp, boxes all gone-rotted away
or taken down. I'll tell you where that
peweell bunk this winter; he'll stay
right around here in these trees and what
tip,a ha n;,'t Ny;n, about N a'h,,,.t;n, g.
something to eat he'll be roosting on q
limb all pulled up as he is now."
Il should think it would freeze to
death"
80 they do sometimes. Many a win
ter morning, after an unusually cold
night, I've seen the ground covered with
their dead bodies, frozen hard. Pity.
Not much. If we couldn't get rid Of
some Of 'em by freezin' they'd take the
town in year or two. They're the big
gest nuisance in New York city"
Yet you admire their pluck"
80 l do; so | do. admire pluck
wherever l see it, and you've got bushels
of it in these sparrows. When few Of
'em first came over here we fixed up for
'em in style, built boxes for 'em and fed
'em: but they never would use the boxes,
they'd rather look out for themselves,
which they've always done since I've
known anything about 'em. | haven't
the heart to kill one of 'em. notwith-
standing they're such a nuisance.
What do they feed onY'
Crumbs mostly. So longs there's
babies in New York 30 long'll there be
sparrows; somehow they seem to to 90
together. You'll see babies come tod
din through the park or ridin in their
carriages amunchin' Of crackers aud
cakes and tarts and all that and scatter
ing crumbs behind 'em. Sparrows al
ways on the lookout, gather up the
crumbs as soon as they get chance.
Then like most other birds they like
worms and bugs and flies such as they
can find in the grass or weeds or ON the
bark of the trees"
Determined war has not been waged
against English sparrows in this state,
but in Pennsylvania and perhaps two or
three other states bounties are paid for
their heads. so much hundred. Boys
made ample pocket change for time by
the use Of rubber slings and bowguns,
but boylike they soon grew tired Of the
sport of wholesale murder of the little
birds, and the sparrows, left to them
selves, continued to increase with re-
markable rapidity. Statistics on this
point are interesting. The newly organ
lied division of economic ornIthology Of
the department Of agriculture is Irepar-
ing a series of bulletins upon the rcla-
tions of several common species of birds
of this country 10 agriculture. Among
the bird pests which threaten destruction
to valuable branches of farming DIR.
Merriam. the head Of the division, places
the English sparrow as chief. This little
creature has SO multiplied and developed
among its new surroundings as 10 have
become a vastly greater scourge thanthe
caterpillars and worms il was expected
TO destroy. Its present rate Of increase
is enormous. and the new territory which
II invades is estimated at more than lJ0.-
600 square miles annually. II is essen
TALLY town bird, but it takes long vaca-
tions in the fruit growing seasons and
'wreaks its fastidious appetite" upon
the largest and juiciest of grapes and the
daintiest of tree fruits, in which work
of destruction its aggregate Of damages
is almost incomputable.-New York
Tribune.